Mellissa Spens has been working closely with children and their families in the mental health field with the State of Arizona for 13 years. She’s assisted families and other state workers with navigating behavioral health systems and insurance. For the last four years, she provided her therapeutic input and expertise concerning evidenced-based therapy modalities, assessments and service recommendations for children who experienced trauma, challenging behaviors and severe mental health diagnoses. Having completed a year internship providing therapy for children ages 5-17 years old, she has experience helping children develop appropriate emotional regulation skills, coping skills, social skills, increasing self-esteem and communication skills for children with and without various mental health diagnoses. It’s  Ms.  Mellissa’s passion and pleasure to assist Hawaii’s children with discovering their potential,  help them achieve their goals, and send them off with the skills and mindset to achieve goals on their own.